How Mississippi State's defense became one of college football's best

Mississippi State dominated the field on both sides of the ball as they rolled past rival Ole Miss in a 35-3 win in this year's Egg Bowl.
Mackenzie Salmon, Mississippi Clarion Ledger

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Mississippi State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop is one of five finalists for the Broyles Award given to the best assistant coach in college football. Photo by Keith Warren/Madatory Photo Credit(Photo: Keith Warren, Keith Warren)Buy Photo

There is a slew of stats from Mississippi State’s 2018 defense that are bound to blow your mind. Let’s start with one that merits a ton of pride: The Bulldogs own the No. 1 scoring defense in the country at 12 points allowed per game.

Time to dive a little deeper.

Mississippi State held seven opponents to their lowest point total of the season, including No. 1 Alabama. Six of those seven teams ultimately became bowl eligible. The only one that didn't is Ole Miss.

How about only allowing 12 total touchdowns in 12 games?

That was the best number in college football, with the second-lowest total being 19. It was also the fewest regular season touchdowns allowed by any program since Notre Dame gave up 10 in a 2012 trip to the national title game.

Only one defense in the country didn’t allow a play of 50-plus yards all season -- . It Mississippi State.

The Dogs' defense faced 778 plays this year, and only 26 of them went for 25-plus yards. That, too, amounts to the fewest such plays allowed across the nation.

“We’ve been pretty consistent,” defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said. “That’s been the positive thing. All we’ve talked about each week is preparing as best we can and coming out on Saturday and playing to our standard.”

Shoop’s mastery hasn’t been overlooked. On Monday, Shoop was named as one of five finalists for the Broyles Award given to the best assistant coach in the nation. It’s the first time since Joe Lee Dunn in 1999 that a Mississippi State assistant has been a finalist for the award.

Shoop inherited a defense that had mostly the same personnel as it did a season ago. He took this star-studded unit and completely transformed it. The Bulldogs allowed 20.9 points per game last year, and Shoop shaved more than a touchdown per game off that average.

How’d he do it?

Shoop introduced a new scheme, switching Mississippi State from a 3-4 look to a 4-3. Most of the season, though, the Bulldogs ran a 4-2-5. The addition of a true nickel back totally transformed the defense.

Every player who Shoop plugged in at “STAR” safety played like, well, a star. Junior Brian Cole locked the position down until he was lost for the season with a shoulder injury. Junior Jaquarius Landrews stepped in and played well in a win over Texas A&M.

Mississippi running back Isaiah Woullard (26) is tackled by Mississippi State safety Johnathan Abram (38) and safety Mark McLaurin (41) during an NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss., Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018.(Photo: Bruce Newman, AP)

Then there’s senior Johnathan Abram, who moved up when Landrews went out with an ankle ailment. He had two of his best games of the season against Alabama and Arkansas, totaling 21 tackles in those two tilts.

Abram had 3.5 tackles for loss against the Razorbacks. Cole and Landrews had 7.5 combined tackles for loss and four sacks on the season, too. Shoop loves to blitz from the nickel spot, and it reaped rewards for those three safeties.

“Everybody goes out and does their job at a very high level,” Abram said. “That’s what makes this defense click so well. This is probably the most consistent defense I’ve ever played on.”

Opposing offensive lines have enough to worry about with NFL draft prospects Montez Sweat and Jeffery Simmons barreling down on them. When Shoop sends the STAR on a blitz, it is often a bad omen for the quarterback. Cole, Landrews or Abram usually get into the backfield untouched with blockers preoccupied with State’s stout defensive linemen.

Sweat himself still had 11.5 sacks, and Simmons had 15.5 tackles for loss. Sophomore linebacker Erroll Thompson emerged as one of State’s most versatile players. He was effective in pass coverage and was arguably the Bulldogs’ best tackler in the open field. He finished second on the team in total tackles with 84.

“I feel like we accomplished most of the things we felt like we could accomplish here and there, give or take,” Thompson said.

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Mississippi State's Montez Sweat (9), Mississippi State's Erroll Thompson (40) and other defensive players close in on Arkansas's Connor Noland (13). Mississippi State played Arkansas in an SEC football game on Saturday, November 17, 2018. Photo by Keith Warren(Photo: Keith Warren/For Clarion Ledger)

For as much as credit Mississippi State’s front seven deserves in clamoring that it had the nation’s best defense, the back-end should get its acclaim as well.

Shoop is a defensive backs specialist, and the strides some of State’s DBs made in just one season under his tutelage were palpable. Sophomore Cameron Dantzler blossomed into one of the best cornerbacks in the SEC with nine passes defended and two interceptions.

Whether it was senior Jamal Peters or junior Maurice Smitherman on the other side, the results were just as satisfactory. Abram led the team in total tackles (93), and fellow senior safety Mark McLaurin was third (73).

Abram and McLaurin also combined for nine passes defensed. Abram had two interceptions as well. In all, State’s passing defense ranked No. 6 in the country. It held the fifth-best passing offense in the nation to 152 yards through the air in the Egg Bowl.

Mississippi State had mostly the same personnel last season. More maturity and the arrival of a defensive coordinator who implemented a system that enhanced every player’s strengths evolved Mississippi State’s defense into an elite unit.

“I feel like we are a championship defense,” Dantzler said. “I really do believe that from the bottom of my heart. I feel like that we have the guys to make plays as well as anyone else in the country.”